Feature – The Black and White

To defer or to commit: seniors have a difficult choice this fall

Graduated seniors must make the decision whether to defer from their schools, following new information about school plans in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Kendall Headley

July 8, 2020

Graduated senior Lucas Arulpragasm sits in front of his computer, attentively staring at the screen and waiting for an announcement from his dream school, Cornell University. He committed to Cornell earlier in the year, but now, any fall plans could vanish. Because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic...

Reynolds retires after 23 years at Whitman

Reynolds and her successor, Ryan Derenber. She was the Black & White advisor from 2007 until 2019 and created a

By Skylar Chasen

July 6, 2020

Sitting at her desk in the corner of room B212, armed with her signature purple pen, English teacher Louise Reynolds worked her way through a stack of drafts a few inches thick, marking them up with edits until she could barely see the page. Former Black & White Online Editor-in-Chief Maureen Saylor ...

Senior Destinations 2020

By Jonathan Young

July 6, 2020

How to use the Senior Destinations Map: Click the upper left button or the markers on the map to view students and schools. Clicking the upper right full-screen button will bring you to the full feature map which contains the search function. Below is the full list of students and destinat...

Swimmers and divers reflect on lost summer season

By Quentin Corpuel

July 3, 2020

At eight o’clock in the morning, the Mohican Swim Club in Bethesda is silent. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the pool water is untouched. That is, until rising junior Henry Cheetham arrives for another action-packed day. Over the course of five hours, he organizes chairs around the ...

Lending a hand: students organize ‘Teens Helping Seniors’ during pandemic

By Nil Özdemir

June 30, 2020

When schools shut down, many students prepared for a relaxing two weeks off, free from the stress of homework and tests. Others quickly realized that the break was an opportunity to help their community. During their final daily carpools to school, Montgomery Blair sophomores Dhruv Pai and Matthew Casertano...

Food delivery services support local businesses, communities during pandemic

Glen Echo Heights Citizens Association volunteers prepare food orders for delivery.

By Aleydis Barnes

June 19, 2020

It’s delivery day. Glen Echo Heights Citizens’ Association President Lisa Esquevil-Owen surveys the array of cardboard boxes and coolers filled with fruits, vegetables and packages of meat that line the Washington Waldorf School’s entrance. She’s been up since 7 a.m., is on her second cup of...

Students create Instagram-based clothing businesses

By Jaclyn Morgan

June 15, 2020

Like many other students in the past two months, junior Megan O’Hara was bored in quarantine and scrolling through her Instagram feed. While doing so, she came across several clothing accounts that her friends made, where they sold their clothes for cheap prices. She realized she also had a lot of ...

Q&A with screenwriter Mario Correa

Screenwriter Mario Correa graduated from Whitman in 1987. His plays have been featured at the New York Fringe Festival and Off-Broadway. His 2019 screenplay,

By Lexi Fleck

June 12, 2020

Movie screenwriter Mario Correa graduated from Whitman in 1987. His first play, “Tail!Spin!”, debuted at the New York Fringe Festival in 2012 and transferred to Off-Broadway in 2014. The first screenplay he wrote was, “Let Her Speak,” about Wendy Davis’ 2013 filibuster, which is currentl...

Students find ways to fight COVID-19

Junior Ezra Bird uses his 3-D printer to make face shield brackets. Bird is one of several Montgomery County students working to fight the pandemic.

By Matt Mande

May 24, 2020

For most students, the past few months have consisted of sleeping in, watching Netflix and scrolling aimlessly through social media feeds for hours on end. “Before quarantine, I used my phone for maybe two or three hours per day,” senior Henry Stoner said. “Now, I spend at least five hours ...

“It sometimes feels like you’re set back in time”

Junior Alexa Maupin and her family own a farm in Darnestown, a rural part of Montgomery County. She enjoys being there because it is where she grew up and it lets her be closer to nature.

By Emily London

May 21, 2020

While most of her classmates slept in on a Saturday morning last summer, junior Alexa Maupin was hard at work picking berries on her family farm. It was particularly hot and the sun was beating down, but she kept going until she had a full bucket of bright red wineberries, a type of small, wild berry tha...

“A second set of family”: Whitman sound team builds close community

Members of the Whitman Drama sound team work the sound board during a rehearsal for

By Jocie Mintz

May 15, 2020

When senior Caroline Hatcher first joined Whitman Drama’s sound team two years ago, she had absolutely no experience working with microphones, speakers or soundboards. Now, she wants to pursue sound design professionally. Being part of Whitman’s sound team has not only enabled her to find a craf...

“I just got back up and skated it over again”

Junior Abbie Hall and her teammates compete at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.

By Sarah Tong

May 11, 2020

“We got this guys! Let’s get out there and crush it!” junior Abbie Hall shouted as she took to the freshly paved ice with 15 other Novice skaters. When Hall was six, she skated for the first time at her mom’s college alumni skating event at Cabin John Ice Rink. Hall said she instantly fell in ...